For the last three years, the world has witnessed the hottest temperatures on record. A new global treaty is in place to limit global warming, but it hinges on the commitment of the U.S. One of the most pressing questions for climate scientists is where President Donald Trump stands.

CGTN’s Owen Fairclough reports.

Scientists demand clarity from US on climate change policy

Scientists demand clarity from US on climate change policy

For the last three years, the world has witnessed the hottest temperatures on record. A new global treaty is in place to limit global warming, but it hinges on the commitment of the U.S. One of the most pressing questions for climate scientists is where President Donald Trump stands. CGTN’s Owen Fairclough reports.

Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet is surveying the worst wildfires in her country’s history – destroying an area twice the size of New York.

“We’re in a catastrophic situation. We know that – and that is why we’re taking the necessary measures,” said Bachelet.

Environmentalists point the finger at climate change for heating up the planet and producing more frequent fires like this. Not just in Chile, but across the world.

2016 was the hottest on record. It was also the year the two biggest polluters, China and the U.S. signed a new treaty setting binding targets on cutting greenhouse gases to limit global warming.

There’s a huge question mark over the future of that treaty after new U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to abandon it. Trump has spent years challenging internationally accepted evidence that climate change is manmade.

Scientists, like those who unveiled an updated version of the Doomsday countdown, are demanding clarity.

David Titley, member of the Atomic Science and Security board, thinks the current political situation in the United States is of particular concern,

“The Trump Administration needs to state clearly and unequivocally that it accepts climate change caused by human activity as reality,” said Titley.

As the planet heats up, new commercial opportunities are opening up in previously impenetrable places such as Antarctica, where ice caps have been melting.

Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra says one of the biggest opportunities for Argentina is fishing.

With those commercial opportunities, climate change is also creating new diplomatic pressures as competing countries rush to exploit them.

Paul Bledsoe talks about the 2016 global heat record

The last three years have been successively the hottest on record. In addition,16 of the 17 hottest years on record have occurred since 2000. In order to break down changes in the global climate, CGTN’s Rachelle Akuffo spoke to Paul Bledsoe, President of Bledsoe and Associates.